Intriguing
by BloodThornChaos
Summary: "No, Jinx, I'm not here to arrest you." The way Raven's mouth curves over her name, says it with such familiarity, Jinx almost shudders.


Intriguing

Jinx isn't quite sure how to tell her team she's tired. So, she goes with what she thinks is the least painful for everyone.

"Yo guys, I'm kind of, um, leaving." She doesn't elaborate and walks out of the hidden base with her meager messenger bag of possessions, disappearing like a father gone out for cigarettes, never to be seen again.

As she wanders the city of Jump, the bubblegum haired meta wonders what her next move should be. Crime, while usually well paying, was exhausting. Always looking over her shoulder, fighting with the law's employees, and eventual stints in prison all took their toll.

It being late enough that the local businesses had closed shop for the night and their lights turned off, only the barest hint of an electric hum coming from the glow of the sparse streetlamps illuminating the street could be heard. Not liking the near silence, Jinx started humming some pop song that has been playing on the radio at least four times per hour and somehow promptly ends up repeating the same three lines due to not remembering the rest.

The shadows in between the faint glow of lights seems dim and foreboding to the thief, reminding her of the Titan dealing in darkness.

Almost as if she'd been summoned by the mere thought, a second set of footsteps falls in line with Jinx's.

"Awfully late for a stroll, wouldn't you say?" Pink eyebrows shot up, having not had the chance to notice the other girl until she had spoken. Attempting to calm her racing heart, Jinx starts doing some mental calculations.

"Maybe to those who aren't nocturnal. Then it would be early. Why are you here?"

A surprisingly honest answer came from Raven, "Patrol. I saw you walking and wanted to make sure you weren't planning any heists." Jinx tries to think of a response, pushing down the feeling of adrenaline in her chest, leeching all the warmth from her extremities, willing her heart to stop its racing palpitations. Wanting to start her new leaf off well, Jinx decides on an honest response instead of a snarky retort.

"Nah, I don't want to do that anymore. Don't get me wrong, crime is fun and all, but fighting and jail time just isn't worth it. I was actually just leaving the other guys. No sure what I wanna do yet though." A hum of acknowledgment is her only response. Her platform boots make more noise than the cloth boots of the light-footed Titan, the rhythmic sounds of their steps giving her something to focus on rather than her ever racing heart. "I was just a kid when I started doing this kind of stuff. Dark Way Prep, then H.I.V.E., I'm almost done being a teenager and I feel like I never got the chance to be one at all."

"On that note, I understand you all too well. At least you guys could go underground for a bit of a break, I've had no such reprieve in my time of being a Titan." Jinx flushes slightly, she hadn't thought of that. Of course super heroes didn't get vacations.

"Why don't you just hop into your black magic, you can teleport right? Just go someplace else for a little while," Jinx says with a shrug.

"Even if I were inclined, I don't really have anywhere to go. Titans Tower is my home. Speaking of, you said you left your teammates, and presumably your home. Where are you going to go?" Jinx notices the turn in conversation back to her plight, but doesn't blame the Titan for wanting to find out her intentions. She has a rap sheet a mile long after all, very little of the information about her personally.

"Does your asking me that mean you're not here to arrest me on sight? I am a wanted criminal after all. I kind of figured your little chat was just a distraction while you set up an ambush or something."

"Your thought is pessimistic, but realistic all the same. But no, Jinx, I'm not here to arrest you." The way Raven's mouth curves over her name, says it with such familiarity, Jinx almost shudders. She's been afraid to look at the caped do-gooder this whole time, fearing it would break whatever odd truce they have going on at the moment. It's now that she chances a look to her side where the dark Titans calmly walks alongside her.

Raven's hood is up, no surprise there. Jinx doesn't think she's ever seen the entirety of the other girl's face. Her gait is relaxed as they trod along, seemingly at ease with their path to nowhere. It's her mouth that Jinx is drawn to; glancing at the pale lips in their straight, calm line. Jinx doesn't ask what the mystic is doing still walking with her if not to arrest her, her suspicions still holding. A park slowly comes into view on their left. Despite the late hour and there being no traffic of any kind, boots stomp impatiently for the light to signal green, allowing the two girls to safely cross the street. Jinx doesn't put it past the enforcer of justice to change her mind about her freedom status due to some harmless jaywalking.

The park is one of the smaller ones within the confines of Jump. A fountain resides in the middle, the water illuminated by dim lights inside the water, but none actually shooting up as it would during the day if it were turned on. Despite her questionable footwear, the villainess hops up on the edge of the fountain, walking upon the raised edge, arms spread out in a show of balance, her steps sure and steady. Raven walks on the grass beside her, feeling the slightly overgrown grass tickling her ankles, the dew moistening her skin.

"Tell me something," The not quite question throws the hero off guard, mostly for its vague meaning.

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me anything. What your magic words mean, why the sky is blue, does anything really rhyme with orange? I'm starting to enjoy your company and I'm a chatty person, so I'd like to have a conversation. Doesn't really matter what we talk about." Raven ponders for a few moments, deciding on what question, if any, to answer.

"I find myself… intrigued by you, Jinx." Letting that settle, and giving the inquisitive pinkette a chance to reply, Raven clasps her hands behind her back as they continue walking in circles around the still fountain. Mauve eyes stare at her companion, awaiting a response, any reaction. Buying herself a few seconds, shouldering off her messenger bag, Jinx reaches her hands down, using her palms and fingers to walk while her legs are held more or less steady in the air.

"I'm an intriguing person. I guess I could say the same about you. No one really knows anything about you. We had some files on the Titans at H.I.V.E., some stuff about Robin's time in Gotham before he came here to Jump, schematics on Cyborg, a brief history of Tamaran and Starfire's family's rule, even had a DNA breakdown from Beast Boy, but nothing on you. Even the picture was blurry and out of focus."

Raven had no idea their enemies have that much information on them.

"What would you like to know?"

"There's no way you're just going to give me any information I want," feeling the burn in her upper arms, Jinx rights herself and sits down on the edge she'd been previously walking on. Raven decides almost immediately to sit beside her rather than to float in front of her. "Let me guess, there's a catch?"

This girl is jaded, though not without reason. "Some things are off limits, but I don't even know what you want to know yet. So ask." A pale hand reaches to an equally pale chin, taking up a thinking position.

"Is this all some elaborate trick of some kind?"

"Cutting right to the heart of the matter I see. No, no such tricks from me." When nothing more came from the monotone girl, Jinx decides to press her luck and keep asking whatever comes to her mind.

"So why are you here? You said you're 'intrigued' by me, what does that mean?"

"Maybe I just wanted some company." Jinx realizes with a start that Raven hadn't promised to be honest with her. They stare at each other, Jinx trying to catalogue any features not covered in artificial shadow, trying to ferret out any deception. Raven is content to look, just taking in the features of her unlikely companion.

"Is that the whole truth? If I remember correctly, you live with four other people, which sounds like a lot of company to me."

"Jinx," there was that way Raven said her name again, like her lips were caressing the syllables, "you're a beautiful woman." That is not at all what Jinx had been expecting. She feels a finger brushing her own, the softness a contrast to the rough stone beneath her palm. Her heart, which had finally stopped trying to leap out of her chest some time ago, now, redoubled its efforts. Jinx is suddenly hyper vigilant of everything- the worn cotton of her striped leggings stretched across her cold legs, the ache in her shoulders from walking on her hands so long, the solid thigh of the other girl pressing against her own, a hand coming to rest on her cheek, bringing her wide gaze back to the vigilante.

Jinx had briefly thought about this, once. When 'Stone' had asked her to the dance and she later found him to be nothing more than Cyborg, she had wondered what if any of the other Titans had tried instead. Raven had been her favorite choice out of the five if she was being honest with herself. But this is real. She has no way of knowing the gothic girl, while looking so cold, would feel so warm. A thumb brushes against her cheekbone, the movement feeling slightly stilted, as if only ever seen and never practiced.

"Are you okay?" The question was not whispered; though the hex caster thought it maybe should have been, as if the moment needs to be more private somehow. Licking her dry, wind chapped lips, Jinx doesn't even think about the question.

"Raven, the emotionally stunted, 'don't fuck with me' Titan is hitting on me." And then all Jinx could do was laugh, great, rasping bellows as she processed the ridiculousness of it all. Thankfully the other girl doesn't seem to take offense, merely letting the pale girl exhaust her chuckles.

And then they were kissing. Jinx had made the official move towards the empath's face, letting the oddness of the night overtake her senses, until Raven was the one overtaking her senses. Fingers curled in dark locks, feeling the strands between her fingers, as their lips gently pressed against each other. Jinx softly bit the bottom lip trapped in her mouth, then licking roughly the same spot. She vaguely realizes Raven's hands are rubbing her shoulder blades as they kiss, the thought nearly lost in the sensations of their mouths. Thankfully both figure out to breathe through their noses, letting the kiss go on and on, until finally they pull apart.

"Was that just to fuck with my head?" She's never heard Raven laugh before, but decides then and there to make it happen more often.

Raven's response is to pull her into another kiss.


End file.
